Events are likely to be held in the city’s parks and green spaces this spring before official planning permission has been granted for them.
People living in areas where the number of events has dramatically increased in recent years – such as Valley Gardens – were delighted when a court ruling made it more difficult for open spaces to be used for more than 28 days a year without planning permission.
Brighton and Hove City Council is now planning to apply to change the permitted use of a handful of areas so performances can be held there for more than this time limit.
But just two weeks before work to prepare spaces for the Brighton Festival and Fringe, no applications have been submitted.
Brighton and Hove News understands the outdoor events team is still working on the applications, which will be for a temporary five-year change of use.
They should be submitted before the 28-day limit is exceeded – but as applications take weeks or even months to determine, there is now no chance of them being decided, let alone approved, before it’s up.
It is not illegal to implement a change of use without planning permission, but councils can then issue stop notices or enforcement notices, and breaching one of those can lead to prosecution.
But the council’s cabinet member for recreation Alan Robins seems relaxed about the prospect of falling foul of the council’s planning enforcement team.
He said: “The appropriate planning applications for the planned event space will be submitted before the 28-day limit is reached.
“We’re keen to see this area continue to be a vital part of our outdoor events offering, while balancing the needs of all our residents. For example, we have excluded some areas from our plans so that there is always green space available for people.
“A lot of time and local insight has gone into finalising our plans and we will be proceeding with the work with planning pending, with it expected to get underway in around two weeks.
“If our application for the event space is not successful, we will have to return that area section to its former condition, as any other applicant would be required to do.
“The council has followed the correct process throughout and we are excited at the potential this site has for hosting future events for residents and visitors alike to enjoy.”
A spokeswoman for the Friends of Valley Gardens, an informal residents group which is opposing the extensive use of the area for events throughout the year, said: “Whilst due process will be followed, the usual last-minute timing is clearly geared towards distraction.
“A carte blanche five-year planning consent would disallow a public voice and damage democracy.”
Have the actual organisers been made aware that their events are illegal ?
At least two of my neighbours living directly opposite the site and I myself have submitted official complaints calling for planning enforcement action. We have already put up with hideous black fences that close off the whole open space for 12 days now, since April 16th, as well as two big circular marquees and other temporary structures, which we are told will stay there until June 5th. So they will be in place for over seven weeks, not the maximum of four weeks which is permitted to the Council without planning permission. Such contempt for their legal obligations by a major public authority is utterly indefensible, and not only because it deprives us as local residents of our statutory right to object to plans *before* construction begins.
Once again, the Events Team ride roughshod over public opinion. We had steel bariers being thrown down from a truck at 05:15 on Friday for the Marathon in Preston Park. Even the Site Manager was disgusted with what happened when I spoke to him later. This type of thing is typical of the poor management of events and nobody should be under any illusion that regarding this news about no planning permissions being given will simply result in Events “figuring things out” with their colleagues in Planning and no sanctions will be enforced. It’s simply not acceptable for one council department to police another and it’s about time the Council took notice of local residents who have to suffer ever increasing inconvenience just so the city can stage events in unsuitable locations.
go along to the next PP residents events enagement meeting and have your say
I have been told that will be on June 16th – after it is all over! Planning law says that permission has to be granted *before* construction begins. That is to enable those affected locally to put in any objections before anything is done, in the spirit of democracy. But this council doesn’t seem to give a damn about such legal rights belonging to us as residents.
It’s just more sleaze from the council.
The spaces are given away for significantly less than any other city to a small group of chums, who don’t even have to tender for the space. Sometimes there are not even proper contracts in place and the promotor running the event is not the one contracted. The promotors make their millions and then leave the spaces in a shambles. Residents have even been told by officials that it would be unfair to make the promotors restore the places, as it would cut into their profits…profits which we already subsidise.
The planning permission process is just a sham as the events are advertised and sold out before it has even been applied for…and we know it will be passed through without any consultation.
Meanwhile council officials threaten residents and hold fake consultations where promises are made that are not kept.
We need a professional events team who can run professional events without all the grift and gaslighting. Brighton deserves better than this.
Can you name these chums or at least qualify the accusation, otherwise your words are meaningless.
What threats have been made to residents and can you name one actual fake consultation.
You may not like this but if you endlessly make such claims, at least back them up with real facts, not just hear say.
Well…every consultation that has been held in Kemptown over the past few years has been to ‘tell’ us what is happening and not actually consult. The Pride consultation was another good example, as the survey report in 2025 was never published by the council because the results weren’t what they wanted. When a government legal advisor informed us in writing that the restriction of access to homes linked to the PVP was illegal, we were just told to ‘sue’ the council.
Residents have made complaints to the council about abuse in consultation meetings and one resident I know had threatening letters from council officials because he published details linking another council official to one of the companies working on events (details from companies house).
The ‘real facts’ I rely on are all from the council itself (from FOI requests) and have been sent (by me or other residents) to Birgid Miller and Bella Snakey. Birgid Miller actually demanded the facts after the meeting in February…and then when she was sent them, went very very quiet and refused to reply. Luckily other residents and local activists attended and were also copied in. They have also been published on several Facebook forums.
If you actually lived in Kemptown you would definitely have seen them and would know all this. Clearly you don’t.
The funny thing is that people used to post identical posts to yours on local forums…and then stopped when I post the FOI responses…tumbleweed. Since I cant link files here (as you know) can I suggest you attend a consultation forum in Kemptown and ask me there, or join a local Facebook forum? You will find all the facts you need (but I guess you won’t bother as you are just trolling).
I am happy to keep posting until the council get a professional events team…
That is exactly how it has been all this year on this site, ever since a permanent new licence for such events in this public open space was sought with an announcement on a single A4 sheet hung on a lamppost near the London Road crossroads. A few of us residents actually saw it and sent in objections, but we might as well not have bothered as the licensing panel’s meeting was just a rubber stamp. On this small site, north of St Peter’s Church, the licence even granted opening hours and an off licence directly counter to the Council’s official licensing policy, which only came in in January this year. Now, when it comes to planning permission, they don’t even make the pretence of respecting their legal obligations. The official in charge added insult to injury when, in reply to one neighbour’s letter, he said this space was “behind” St Peter’s Church. It isn’t. I am looking out of my window right now and it is very much in front of it, and only 8 metres away.
So you’ve been saying the same thing for years, Lev. I’ve only ever found things that contradict this narrative, and I’ve witnessed you being pretty venomous with very little success. Ever think about changing tactics?
It’s kind of funny—Benjamin’s trying to criticize Lev, but in the same breath admits he’s been following lev for years. That says a lot more about Benjamin than it does about Lev.
If someone really thought a person was ineffective or not worth listening to, they’d just move on. Sticking around that long and still feeling the need to jump in suggests the opposite—like he *has* to respond to stay relevant, rather than doing the obvious thing and ignoring it.
At some point, that’s less about disagreement and more about needing the interaction.
Lol
It’s kind of funny—James/Rupert’s trying to criticise Benjamin, but has been obsessed with him for years. That says a lot more about James/Rupert than it does about Benjamin.
If someone really thought a person was ineffective or not worth listening to, they’d just move on. Sticking around that long and still feeling the need to jump in suggests the opposite—like he *has* to respond to stay relevant, rather than doing the obvious thing and ignoring it.
At some point, that’s less about disagreement and more about needing the interaction.
Lol
So, by that logic, based on your continuous replies to me with AI slop, I am an effective person worth listening to, and should stick around.
Thanks, I guess.
You two are like children.
I’ve seen you both bickering in the comments on several posts, maybe it’s time for you both to go outside and touch some grass?
Lol
Nah
I’ve thought about it a few times, to be honest, since the doubling down of LLMs is legendary. But also, I’d rather speak to the article, offer my opinions, and challenge concepts in respectful debate. Should I just leave the AI slop as it is, unchallenged? Maybe.
Benjamin is a creepy freak. He stalks me all the time. When I have posted the FOI request information that supports what I am saying he goes quiet for a while and then starts up again. Really weird little man.
Nope, you haven’t provided an FOI that supports your information. And I’m pretty sure I’ve challenged you every time you’ve come up with this narrative. You and Denise do the same thing every time.
It may not be illegal to hold these events but I think it will be if they try to charge any entry fee or prevent lawful access.
It will be unlawful as soon as the temporary structures have been there for over 28 days in succession. That will be on May 14th. That legal position was confirmed by the High Court in a case involving a London borough council only last year.
Usual NIMBY whingers ruining things for the rest of us. You live in the centre of a city and then object to anything and everything?
Benjamin, come off it—this “noble defender of debate” act doesn’t land when you’re clearly pasting out polished, generic waffle and pretending it’s all off-the-cuff.
You say you want “respectful debate,” but what you’re actually doing is flooding the thread with overcooked, pseudo-academic filler, dodging the substance, and then acting like you’re taking the high ground. It’s not principled—it’s evasive.
And the irony of moaning about “LLMs doubling down” while your own posts read like they’ve been churned out in US English with that same sterile, lecture-note tone? That’s not a coincidence. People aren’t stupid—you’ve already been clocked.
At this point, just own it. Either argue like a real person and engage with the actual criticism, or stop pretending this is some crusade for “good faith debate.” Because right now it just looks like you’re hiding behind AI-generated padding and hoping no one notices.
😊😊😊😊 well said. Many wonder whose pocket Benjamin is serving?
We all know who his chums are….
It will be unlawful as soon as the temporary structures have been there for over 28 days in succession. That will be on May 14th. That legal position was confirmed by the High Court in a case involving a London borough council only last year.